EBOR: Where and when in your District

[John-in-KC]

ASM915 said his District only does EBOR's quarterly.

 

In my neck of the woods, there's hardly a week that doesn't go by without an EBOR somewhere.

 

Our District uses the "District Advancement Committee Member Guest" authorized by ACP&P #33088.

 

Scout has great sway in setting time and place of EBOR. It's his day to shine in the sun. If the Scout wants an offsite (usually someplace significant to him), he coordinates the place.

 

CC, or unit advancement coordinator (committeeperson) coordinates unit members for the EBOR, and contacts the District NESA chairman for a guest (yes, it's an advancement function, but that's how we divide the labor).

 

Our Council is not uniform. The adjacent District only does EBOR at monthly RT. Another only does them at District Committee/Commish.

 

How does your District/Council do it?

[OldGreyEagle]

Eagle Boards of Review are typically held once a month at a fixed location. Scout/Scoutmasters call the Eagle co-ordinator and get a time (approximate of course)

 

I say typically because if the situation requires, an Eagle Board of Review can occur anytime, anywhere. Having the EBOR on one night a month at a fixed location makes it easier on the adults of the Advancement Committee, but we would never allow our ease to get in the way of a scout who could not make usual time/place

[Buffalo Skipper]

In our district (and council), all rank advancement occurs on the troop level, Eagles being without exception. As such, all EBoRs are arranged by the troop, so they take place at troop designated locations. In our troop this is done by the Life to Eagle coach. The only obvious differences between a regular BoR and an EBoR is that it is usually scheduled separately from other BoR and troop or committee memeting times, and it is attended by one or two district EBoR "team members." Other attendees are arranged by the troop L2EC, who is an ASM, not a committee member (so he never sits on an EBoR).

 

Our district has two dozen or more of these EBOR "team members" (for lack of a more formal title). Some are members of the District Advancement committee, some fill other roles in the district, council or units, while some hold no other position in scouting. About half dozen of these are older scouters who Eagled in our troop, but are no longer registered with the troop. I have attended several EBoRs for members of my troop; these people are well experienced and I can say that their presence adds positively to the experience.

 

When the L2EC schedules an EBoR, he contacts the district, who has a list of district personel who attend. They are simply called in order until one or two are reached who are available; for the next scheduled EBoR, the next name on the list is called first. The whole thing happens easily, effectively and without any obvious hangups or delays.

 

[GKlose]

I recently sat on my first EBoR, with our troop (troop run, with district advancement committee representative). The CC was the chair of the board, after he attempted to defer to the DAC rep (who said, "I'm only here observing, I may not speak up at all").

 

Only one thing was seemingly off...there were two ASMs on the board (the other members were CC, the DAC rep, me and the COR, who happens to be the previous SM of the troop). Then again, I don't really know, because my membership card says "Troop Committee" but at the first troop CoH after my official training weekend, I was handed an ASM patch (I wear a TC patch though). I don't think the ASMs and I knew the candidate all that well, so we kind of focused on the broad-stroke questions, asking about his experiences in the troop and about his future plans.

 

In any case, the candidate was beyond reproach. The chair did one light-hearted test, by tossing the candidate a length of rope and asking him to tie a square knot. We all kind of laughed about that.

 

Guy

[Lisabob]

Ours are on demand, typically chaired by the troop advancement person or the troop committee chair, and with a District Advancement Committee representative present. This varies by troop but I know our troop has a tendency to want to see an outside community member involved too, often a teacher or religious leader or someone from the organization that benefited from the Eagle project. Most of the DAC guys take a rather low profile approach but some are more active and a couple tend to try to run things - which is ok in some situations, less so in others. I suppose it depends on the experience of the people involved and whether there are problems.

[Frank17]

We do our EBORs monthly at our regular District meeting place. However, Eagle candidates can request special boards if they have a reason too: schedules, close to 18+, comfort are all accepted.

 

On a side note; I have personally never seen a candidate fail and have only heard of one in our district who did. Part of the reason is they pre-screen each EBOR candidate to make sure they have all the required forms, letters, documentation etc. - If they do not, go away and come back with the complete package. The questioning during the EBOR seems more a formality than a real test. The only scout who I heard of that failed simply locked up with panic and would not respond to ANY questions. He failed, came back a month later, admitted he had panicked for no reason, and passed with flying colors. So even though it seems easy to us, to the scouts it is a major hurtle.

[John-in-KC]

The irony is I'm a very good friend of the District Guest who did EagleSon's board. He's getting older, and no longer drives at night.

 

We took him to the BOR site. That seemed to calm EagleSon down a bit.

 

Of course, I had told him some weeks before: Do you think you're the type of young man who models the ethics of an Eagle? Yeah, Dad. Well... do you think it'll be a problem. Well, Dad...

 

Turned out to be about an hour worth of a lot of laughter and story sharing from all concerned. I was about 200 yards away, working on a Sunday School lesson, and they were certainly audible

[scoutldr]

Ditto what Buffalo Skipper said.

[Eagle69]

In our District the Troop contacts the Eagle Review people and tells them the Scout's preferred time, date and place and if that doesn't work for the District people we check calendars to find a match. The EBOR of review consists of a District Rep and Troop supplied people. The District Rep usually takes and active role and guides the other members of the Board.

[Vicki]

Eagle Boards of Review are held on the first monday, second Tuesday, third Wednesday and fourth Thursday of every month in my district. It's possible, on a per case basis, to schedule one outside of those days, but you need a pretty darn good reason. Seems reasonable to me, we have some pretty busy people who volunteer their time for this. Not to mention the fact that it rotates days of the week. EBORs are done at the district level, not troop.

 

I should mention that our district is as big or bigger than some councils. Not bragging, there can be a significant downside to large size, just providing a sense of scale in terms of the ability to be completely accommodating.

 

Vicki(This message has been edited by Vicki)

[AwHeck]

Eagle boards are scheduled as needed in our district. Our troop has a board of review coordinator that all scouts in the troop work through to schedule their boards at whatever level. Most non-eagle boards are held during troop meetings as that is most convenient for the scouts and adults alike. Eagle boards are typicall NOT scheduled during a troop meeting as they tend to take much longer plus this allows full concentration by all involved. Our district has an advancement committee member 'assigned' to the troops in our area so most eagle boards have the same district member on the board and this person has also typically been the district member to approve the eagle project so there is continuity there. Our BOR coordinator asks the eagle candidate if there are any adults that they would like to have on their board - whether troop committee members or simply members of the community. The BOR coordinator typically chairs the EBOR and walks those unfamiliar with the process through it. She coordinates with the eagle candidate, the district representative, and others involved regarding potential dates for the board. For our troop, most eagle boards are held on Tuesday evenings as this seems to be an evening when most are available (the troop meets on Mondays) but the day of the week can vary if necessary. The district representative plays a full part in the board but does not RUN the board.

[eisely]

Our district provides EBORs monthly on a fixed predictable schedule (second Tuesday if I recall correctly). Depending on the number of youth needing boards, multiple boards may be arranged, but they all meet on the same evening. We are fortunate in that a local attorney who is a scouter makes his offices available for this. The district will arrange emergency boards on short notice if unavoidably necessary. I know that because I have sat on one such board. I like the idea of a fixed schedule of monthly boards because everybody involved can plan around that.

[scoutingagain]

Our District follows a process similar to John-in-KC's.

 

There is no fixed time. One the candidate completes all his paperwork and it is turned into council, the paper work is reviewed. Then the DAChair notifies the SM the paperwork has been reviewed and the SM sets up a time and place for the review, convienient to the scout, DAChair or his representative(another member of the DACommittee), and other members of the Board. They are usually other troop committee members.

 

SA